


Christmas Traditions

by Pennygirl612



Category: White Collar
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21966358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennygirl612/pseuds/Pennygirl612
Summary: Snowed in at the Burke residence on Christmas, Neal, Mozzie, Peter and Elizabeth share some of their favorite Christmas traditions.
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke
Comments: 11
Kudos: 26





	Christmas Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> The Christmas muse wouldn't leave me alone so here is more Christmas fluff. Hope you enjoy.

Christmas Traditions

Peeking out at the still falling snow, Brooklyn along with most of the East Coast was a living, breathing Winter Wonderland. Elizabeth returned to her place on the couch nestled comfortably between her husband and Neal while Mozzie sat in the lone chair in the room. All eyes looked up expectantly at her.

With a shake of her head, Elizabeth said, “Sorry. The plow still hasn’t come through. There’s no way a cab can get here. Mozzie, Neal looks like you’re spending Christmas with us.” 

Peter’s body immediately stilled against her followed by a long but silent sigh. Mozzie looked as if snowed in at Casa Burke was the equivalent of a life sentence in a Siberian prison and began pacing. Meeting her eyes, Neal grinned wickedly like a child. She returned his smile, thankful that she had at least one ally to help her make the most of an otherwise awkward situation. 

“So Moz,” Elizabeth said cheerfully attempting to alleviate the tension in the room. “Do you and Neal have any Christmas traditions?”

Eyes lighting up, Mozzie stopped his pacing and sat back down. “Well, Mrs. Suit, we do indeed. Unlike those days following Christmas but before New Year’s Eve when we were busy planning out all of the next year’s-”

“-lawful employment!” Neal quickly interjected over his friend. Then Neal proceeded to carefully move the glass sitting on the stand next to Mozzie away from his friend’s grasp.

Blinking rapidly, Mozzie realized what he had almost said and sheepishly made eye contact with Peter. “Yes, that’s what I was going to say.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Of course; regular tax-paying, nine to five jobs no doubt.”

With a sharp look at Neal, Mozzie took back his glass and took a sip of the rich, creamy drink. “Mrs. Suit, this lactose-free eggnog is superb.”

“Aw, thanks, Moz. I’ve been slowly getting Peter to drink more Almond Milk. I really don’t notice the difference, do you?”

Muttering under his breath, Peter answered, “That’s because Neal added an entire pint of bourbon.”

Elbowing her husband in the ribs, Elizabeth encouraged Mozzie to continue. “Anyway, you were telling us about a Christmas tradition.” 

“Oh, right. On Christmas we would write crazy, over-the-top dream jobs on little slips of paper. Then we took turns drawing slips from a hat and planning out the best way to, uh, gain that lawful employment.”

Beside of her, Peter narrowed his eyes at Neal who was purposely avoiding all eye contact with his handler. 

“Really?!” Elizabeth said sounding more than a little intrigued. “Give me an example.”

“Who needs more eggnog?” Neal asked hopping to his feet, hoping to somehow avoid where the conversation was heading, but unfortunately Mozzie was not to be derailed.

Removing his glasses to polish them, Mozzie thought for a moment and then gave her a big grin. “Well, one year I drew a slip for -” 

Leaning forward as Mozzie spoke, Peter almost failed to hear his response due to Neal’s timely fake coughing fit. In fact, he was sure he had not heard him correctly. Frowning, Peter asked, “I’m sorry, but did you say the Statue of Liberty?!”

Mozzie enthusiastically nodded. “I know, right? What a target!” he exclaimed. “It took us a while on that one before Neal figured out-” Mozzie’s voice trailed off when he realized what he was saying. With an innocent look, he picked up his drink and calmly took another sip.

Peter turned his attention to Neal; his soft, brown eyes like laser beams boring into his young ward who was shifting uncomfortably on the other end of the couch. “Oh, do tell, Neal how you were going to steal the Statue of Liberty!”

Another elbow to the rib area had Peter's attention diverted to his wife. “What?”

“Be nice. Where’s your holiday spirit?”

“You started this conversation!” 

Ignoring his sarcasm, Elizabeth advised, “Why don’t you tell them about our Christmas tradition.”

For a moment, Peter looked mortified. Lowering his voice, Peter whispered to her, “About how we bake cookies? I don’t really think that would be appropriate for this audience!”

Elizabeth chuckled. “Agreed. Tell them about our other tradition.” Dropping her voice to match his whisper, Elizabeth clarified it for him. “The non-X-rated one.”

Neal and Mozzie who were both happily chumping down on sugar cookies immediately stopped chewing and stared suspiciously at the remainder of the cookies on the plate before them. 

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. “I promise those are fine. They’re from the second batch.”

“And what exactly happened to the first batch?” Neal asked before he could stop himself. Seeing Peter’s self-satisfying smirk and Elizabeth’s raised eyebrow, Neal shook his head and put his hand up. “Don’t-don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know.”

What followed was an excruciating long silence until Peter finally cleared his throat. “Uh, every Christmas Elizabeth and I watch a Christmas movie together. We alternate who picks out the movie.”

“Last year, it was a bit controversial. We watched *Die Hard*,” Elizabeth stated.

“That’s not a Christmas movie!” Neal said sounding appalled.

“Yes, it is!” Mozzie insisted. 

“It’s about a terrorist group taking over an office building!” 

“That takes place at Christmas!”

“Hence the controversy,” Peter said with a shrug.

“So what are we watching this year?” Neal asked, addressing Elizabeth.

“You’ll have to ask Peter. This year is his turn.”

“Wait, *Die Hard* was your choice?” Mozzie asked in surprise.

Picking up a cookie, Elizabeth answered between nibbles, “I love me some Bruce Willis especially when he’s kicking ass!”

Turning to Peter, Neal couldn’t help but notice his handler’s sudden discomfort. “So Peter. What are we watching?”

“Yes, hon, what movie did you pick out?” Elizabeth asked, an expression of complete innocence pasted on her face. She had to bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing knowing full well that she had just backed her husband into a rather embarrassing corner. 

Peter, knowing there was no way to avoid embarrassment, decided he had to cowboy up on this one and his announcement was met with dead silence for about five seconds. Then the snickering started. Without a word, Peter got up and left the room. He returned a moment later carrying his badge in one hand and his handcuffs in the other. The implication was clear. The snickers stopped. 

A half an hour later…

As Julie Andrews sings about some of her favorite things, Mozzie can't help but be puzzled. “So how exactly is a musical about the Nazi takeover of Austria during the spring of 1938 a Christmas movie?”

**Author's Note:**

> The continued internet war of whether Die Hard is or is not a Christmas movie got stuck in my head. I believe it is. The Sound of Music, however, is a harder sell for me even though (to my husband's dismay) I happily watch it every single December! LOL


End file.
